In Linhua County, the news of the burning of the court's disaster relief grain somehow leaked, and the entire Linhua County was in extreme panic. Yuan Decheng sent all the officials to the streets to maintain order, the officials pacified the victims at the four gates, and the 200 soldiers were waiting with swords and guns, and the atmosphere was tense and suffocating.

In the hall of the county government, Ai Tingshi was less calm, and roared in a low voice: "Find out who leaked the news in an attempt to punish wrongdoing, and you will not be forgiven immediately." ”

Yuan Decheng's face was ugly, knowing that there were not many people who had burned the disaster relief grain, and the officials sent to the counties to deliver the letter did not know the content of the official document, so how could the news leak out.

"My lord, this is not the time to pursue responsibility, we must quickly find a way to appease the victims, otherwise the victims will riot and everything will be over." The county Cheng Xiang Quan Hong's face turned pale, and he forcibly endured his urine.

Ai Wei took a deep breath and said, "The Four Gates Disaster Relief can't be stopped, how long can it last?" ”

"Three days at most." Yuan De became enlightened.

Ai Wei thought for a while and said: "Yuan County Order, you send someone to tell the people that the burning of disaster relief grain is a rumor, and there will be grain into the city tomorrow." ”

"Where's the food?" Yuan Decheng asked puzzled.

"You send someone to prepare some grain bags, which are stuffed with straw, quietly go out of the south gate tonight, and enter the city at dawn, just say that the early disaster relief grain has arrived, and you might as well put down a few bags of real grain at the city gate, and immediately open the bag and put it into the pot, and the victims will naturally believe it." Ai Wei said: "In addition, immediately send people across the river to deliver the letter, there are still more than 10,000 stones left in the 50,000 stone disaster relief grain, and now that the flood of the Yuanhua River has receded, let Tuncheng County find a way to transport some first, which can delay for a few days and count a few days, and then forcibly collect grain from the big households in the counties to tide over the difficulties." ”

The news of the burning of the disaster relief grain reached the yamen of the transfer department, and Chang Yuchao secretly felt a little happy under the horror, if the victims were in chaos, he just took the opportunity to burn all the evidence, and it was difficult to convict Li Yubo with a mouth, at most he would lose his official position and go home to retire.

Xiong Mansion, Xiong Yi'an was a little frightened, the son of the daughter did not sit under the dangerous hall, now that Linhua County is about to come in a storm, should he avoid going out of the city first, and then come back when the situation is clear. It's just that Li Yubo and the others are still in the house, if they leave, they can't explain to Jiang Anyi, so they simply take them with them?

Just when he was hesitating, Xiong Qiang came in and said, "Young master, there is a person outside who said that he came from Xingling County and was ordered to deliver a letter. ”

Coming from Xingling County, Xiong Yi'an immediately understood that it was someone sent by Jiang Anyi, and said "please". The kung fu was not big, and a stout man walked in drenched, and saw Xiong Yi'an bowing and saluting: "Villain Ma Yang, I was ordered to come to deliver the letter." ”

As he spoke, Ma Yang took out the letter sealed with oiled paper from his arms and handed it to Xiong Yi'an. Xiong Yi'an asked, "Why is Ma Zhuangshi covered in water?" ”

Ma Yang said gloomily: "Lord Jiang sent me and other six people down the river from Xingling County to deliver the letter, the three boats capsized, and the boat that the villain was on capsized not far from Linhua County. ”

Going down the river, three boats, Xiong Yixin moved, the letter sent by Jiang Anyi must be very important, and told Xiong Qiang to take Ma Yang down to change clothes, Xiong Yi'an unfolded the letter to read. As soon as he read a few lines, he exclaimed, got up from his chair, and looked at it again nervously and quickly.

In the letter, Jiang Anyi told him that Xingling County was attacked by the bandits of Zhongshanzhai,

The bandits led by Ye Yanguang, Rao Qiangfeng, Qi Zhitu (who was not dead at the time of writing), Guo De and others were coercing the victims and the people of Xingling County to go to Linhua County, and asked Xiong Yi'an to find a way to inform Ai Zhishi of the emergency.

Sitting back in the chair, Xiong Yi'an felt that the letter in his hand weighed a thousand pounds, he didn't know whether to thank Jiang Anyi or blame Jiang Anyi, Jiang Anyi asked him to go to report the news undoubtedly to give him a credit, but in this way, his plan to avoid disaster was in vain. The letter has been delivered to him, what if he escapes from the county seat, and the Son of Heaven pursues him to abscond? Ma Yang changed his clothes and came back in, the letter was not signed, Xiong Yi'an asked a few words, and when Ma Yang mentioned the gold medal, Xiong Yi'an was already convinced. Xiong Yi'an thought for a moment, decided to take a gamble, called Xiong Qiang and others, and escorted him to the county office.

In the lobby, Xiong Yi'an saw the history of Ai Thorn and stepped forward to see. For this uncle of the crown prince, Ai Wei didn't dare to take it big, and raised his hand with a smile and said, "Young Master Xiong doesn't need to be polite, I heard that you are not in good health, are you okay now?" ”

Xiong Yi'an said with a smile: "Thank you for your concern, Xiong has a major event to report here, and please retreat." ”

Ai Wei was stunned for a moment, and retreated from the people in the lobby according to his words, leaving only Yuan County's order. Xiong Yi'an handed over the letter, Ai Wei was shocked when he saw it, and asked in surprise: "Master Xiong, this matter is serious, who wrote this letter?" ”

Xiong Yi'an thought about it for a while, and decided to reveal Jiang Anyi's identity, and said: "Lord Ai, Lord Yuan, this person came secretly on the order of the Son of Heaven, and I hope that the two adults will keep it strictly secret after learning his name, otherwise Xiong will not be able to afford it." Ai Wei and Yuan Decheng glanced at each other and solemnly promised not to leak the news.

"This letter was written by Lord Jiang Anyijiang, the assassin of Huazhou, Lord Jiang came to investigate the collapse of the Yuanhua River by the secret order of the Son of Heaven, because he captured a fugitive and went to Xingling County, and happened to meet the bandits of Zhongshanzhai in Xingling County, because the matter of Lord Jiang coming to Linhua County was extremely confidential, so he sent someone down the river to send a letter to Xiong, so that Xiong told the adult."

Xiong Yi'an's words revealed several important information, and Ai Wei's first thought was that the people from the Yamen of the Transshipment Division were finished, and he wanted to tear them apart quickly; The second is that the bandits of Zhongshanzhai are so bold that they dare to attack Linhua County, if they are caught off guard and take the county seat, the consequences will be unimaginable, even if they escape with their lives, they will not be able to escape the law and discipline of the court; Third, it is rumored that Jiang Anyi has a close relationship with the prince, Xiong Yi'an is the prince's brother-in-law, Jiang Anyi put aside his own people and contacted him alone, it seems that he wants to give him a credit.

Yuan Decheng took the letter from Ai Wei's hand, and without waiting to read it, he exclaimed, "My lord, quickly close the four gates to prevent thieves from attacking the city." ”

Ai Wei glared at Yuan Decheng and shouted: "What are you panicking, the person sent by Lord Jiang to deliver the letter is from the Yuanhua River, at least half a day faster than the thief, look at the time, the thief will not be able to reach Linhua County at least tomorrow at noon, now closing the city gate will only cause panic, don't let the thief come before he comes to make a mess." ”

Xiong Yi'an said: "Lord Ai is right, the thieves didn't come so soon, and the city gate was closed as usual at night." It is a big deal for bandits to make a rebellion, and I heard that Lord Tongji of Longwei Prefecture is also in Linhua County, so you might as well send someone to invite him to the county government to discuss together. The army of the Anxi Protectorate has escorted the disaster relief grain to Tuncheng County, and Lord Ai wants to ask them to forcibly cross the river, as long as the army arrives, the thieves will not attack themselves. ”

Yuan Decheng settled down a lot, glanced at Xiong Gongzi, and thought that this jade boy had a bad reputation, no

Thinking of not panicking in case of trouble, he is quite assertive, and it seems that the family is well-informed and talented.

Ai Wei nodded and said: "What Lord Xiong said is reasonable, but Linhua County itself must also strengthen vigilance, and after the city gate is closed, Lord Yuan and several adults in the county will go to the big households in the city to borrow people, and the young and strong people in the city will be recruited to patrol the city to strictly prevent thieves from attacking the city." ”

On the official road from Xingling County to Linhua County, the vehicle was moving with difficulty in the gap of the crowd, Guo De lifted the curtain from time to time to look, and it had been an hour and a half since he left Xingling County, and he had only walked out for more than 20 miles, and the sky was gradually darkening, and it was difficult to meet Rao Qiangfeng before the hour at such a speed. Rao Qiangfeng led the first 500 people along the road to collect the displaced people who were robbing on both sides of the official road, and the team had grown to more than 700 people, and sent a letter saying that they were staying in a village 36 miles away from Xingling County, waiting to join Guo De and others.

Guo De realized that it was a mistake for him to take the people of the whole city and the victims to Linhua County, the pedestrians on the road were staggered and exhausted, and it would take at least two days for these people to reach Linhua County, and the food they got in Xingling County was only more than 100 stones, which was not enough to support the food and drink of so many people. From time to time, some people in the team sat on the side of the road to rest, and some people quietly fled into the depths of the forest, Guo De had already decided that as long as he was young and strong, he would leave the others behind, and he must rush to Linhua County before noon tomorrow.

"Tell to go down, let the people on foot get out of the way, and let the vehicles go first." Guo De commanded. The minions of the guards next to the car took the order, waving their whips to disperse the crowd blocking the road, and the speed of the carriage and horses increased.

Ye Yanguang galloped over with Gao Shuitian and asked, "Strategist, if the carriage and horses speed up, these people won't be able to keep up." ”

"There are people under Lin Hua City, don't worry about these people, just follow them if you can't keep up." Guo De said coldly: "Tell them that we will camp twenty miles away, and the food in the camp is only enough for 2,000 people, and there will be no food if they are late." ”

"The military advisor is right, it is indeed a burden to take these people, and I don't know when I will be able to get to Linhua County, let's go." Ye Yanguang waved his horsewhip and took the lead in rushing forward.

Leaving aside the crying people, the speed of the convoy increased significantly, and most of the young and strong men who could keep up with the brigade were young and strong, and it only took half an hour for Guo De and them to arrive at Rao Qiangfeng's station.

While cooking, Rao Qiangfeng took Guo De and others to a courtyard, and two people were tied to a big tree in the courtyard. Rao Qiangfeng pointed at the two of them and said, "These two people are from the Wharf Gang, who went to Linhua County to deliver the letter, and the letter is on the table, so you can take a look." ”

Reading the letter, Ye Yanguang and Guo De's faces turned pale, and the letter made it clear that the bandits of Zhongshanzhai coerced the people to attack Linhua County, and asked Linhua County to make preventive preparations. Ye Yanguang tore the letter to shreds, picked up the leather whip and whipped it on the two men a few times, and asked, "Who asked you to send the letter?" ”

Rao Qiangfeng said coldly: "Ye Ye, don't bother, these two people have already been recruited, it is the good subordinate that Feng Guoan sent them to deliver the letter, and Ye Ye recruited." ”

Ye Yanguang threw the whip and gasped, Guo De said, "Have you asked how many people they sent to deliver the letter?" ”

"Just the two of them." Rao Qiangfeng said. As for sending the letter on the water, these two people didn't know, so Rao Qiangfeng didn't know either.

Guo De said in a deep voice: "Things have changed, and they can't be delayed any longer." I can't stay here tonight, so I have to rush to Linhua County overnight, and wait for the city gate to open tomorrow and enter the city in one fell swoop. ”